Could the Federal Reserve Respond Sooner to Slowing Job Growth?
The latest data, combined with last week’s soft nonfarm payrolls, is feeding into expectations that the Federal Reserve could move forward with rate cuts. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon noted the economy appears to be slowing, though he stopped short of calling for a recession. Chris Zaccarelli of Northlight Asset Management warned the continued deterioration in jobs could stall the recent equity rally, even if it increases the odds of rate relief.
Traders are now focused on upcoming inflation releases. The August Producer Price Index is due out Wednesday morning, followed by Thursday’s Consumer Price Index. Both reports will be pivotal in shaping the Fed’s tone heading into next week’s policy meeting.
Which Sectors Are Driving the S&P 500 This Session?
Energy and communication services are leading the S&P 500 intraday, each up around 1.4%, as crude prices remain firm and select tech names continue to attract buyers. Health care and utilities are both up 0.8%, offering defensive support. Materials are the weakest link, down 1.7%, followed by a 0.8% decline in industrials as growth concerns resurface.
Which Stocks Are Hitting New Highs or Moving on News?
Fourteen S&P 500 names have hit fresh 52-week highs so far today, with seven notching new all-time highs, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Boston Scientific, and Live Nation.
Notable movers include Metsera (+5%) on a bullish analyst initiation, Kingsoft Cloud (+13%) following an upgrade tied to AI momentum, and Brighthouse Financial (+11%) on takeover speculation.
UnitedHealth is up over 6% after highlighting strong Medicare expectations, while Albemarle is down 11% after a Chinese lithium mine restart spurred oversupply fears.